Board of Directors

Dr. Gede Nyoman Bayu Wirayudha

Lyric Unger Bowditch

Founder and CEO of Friends of National Parks Foundation

Youth Activist in Global Issues

Dr. Bayu is an Indonesian veterinary surgeon and activist devoted to saving Indonesian habitat and wildlife. In 1997, after many years working as a veterinarian, operating eco-tours, and volunteering at the Tanjung Putting National Park in Borneo to mitigate disasters associated with fire, he founded the Friends of the National Parks Foundation (FNPF) to tackle the severe problem of endangered wildlife as a result of habitat destruction. He found very few Indonesians understood and were committed to these important issues and the economic incentives to destroy the rainforest were too great. Today FNPF operates on the islands of Kalimantan and Bali in reforestation, community education and advocacy, sustainable habitat preservation. FNPF is one of a few NGOs successfully mediating between villagers, donors and the international community to create sustainable methods to save the Indonesian environment.

Lyric Unger Bowditch is a 16-year-old student, activist, and leader who has lived in Cairo, Egypt since 2006. Originally from Baltimore, MD, Lyric grew up in an international environment and developed a love for the planet at a young age. Back in 2008, she took part in Maya and Asia’s wrapping paper projects, and has since been an active member of the Agents for Social Change club, Green Team, Model United Nations, Human Rights Club, and other globally constructive activities. This year, Lyric traveled to Tanzania with the organization Me to We and worked on sustainable development in remote Maasai communities. Currently, she is the executive student council president of her high school in Cairo and looks forward to furthering her engagement in local and global issues.

Advisor to the Board

Prof. Kamaruddin Abdullah

Chopper Carter-Schelp

Leader in Renewable Energy and Creator of E3i Villages

Founder of Students Change Lives

Chopper Carter-Schelp is a 18-year-old activist from Bethesda, Maryland. She is the founder of Students Change Lives (SCL), a program dedicated to bringing effective altruism and activism to youth all over the United States. SCL is based in the idea that youth can make change -- a concept that GlobalSense illustrates well. Chopper has served as a Leadership Academy intern for Bethesda Green, an organization that promotes sustainable practices in communities and businesses. She is currently working as an intern at the Stone and Holt Weeks Foundation and helps to organize events to benefit Habitat for Humanity, Environment America, and the World Wildlife Fund, among other organizations. In addition to Students Change Lives, Chopper is working on developing a program that partners with the Congolese NGO AMCAV that seeks to provide marginalized children in the Democratic Republic of Congo with access to education.

After retiring from Bogor Agricultural University in 2007, Prof. Kamaruddin was elected President of Darma Persada University and launched a Postgraduate School on Renewable Energy. He established a Laboratory of Solar Energy Conversion Technology and began to conduct research on solar thermal applications for rural Indonesia and created the concept of self-sustaining E3i village (Energy, Economy and Environment). The E31 activities have been supported by the Directorate General of Higher Education of the Republic of Indonesia, the Ministry of Research and Technology, private sectors and international agencies such as UNESCO, ISESCO, USAID. Results of his research activities are presented in several national and international seminars and symposia and some can be found in peer reviewed journals. He has published 8 books on renewable energy applications, applied mathematics, momentum transfer and post-harvest technology. Prof. Kamaruddin holds BS and MS degrees from Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology and a PhD in Agricultural Engineering from the University of Tokyo.